Investigation Ward
by statefarmsnake
Summary: Contains Sulley x Randall yaoi. Randall is no longer a scarer and Sulley misses having Randall on the scare. In his efforts to kindle a friendship with Randall, Sulley starts to develop feelings for the eight-legged lizard.
1. Chapter 1

Investigation Ward

Chapter 1

Sulley exited the door with screaming behind him. Just like he had been for the past year, he was still scaring children for scream energy at Monsters Inc. Sulley looked down to his right and noticed Mike checking on the canister.

"Another full canister, Sulley. Keep this up, and you'll be able to power the whole city for a week."

"Just doing my job, Mike," Sulley said as he rubbed his fur with a towel. He had to admit to himself that he had been working harder lately. "Why don't we get one more kid in before we head out for lunch? We can go to that one restaurant you've been craving: Rusty Eyeballs. You talking about it has made me craving it."

Mike looked at Sulley while he summoned another door. "Well… sorry, Sulley. I would love to go get lunch with you, but I already promised Celia that I'd go there with her."

"Oh, yeah. Celia…" Sulley said with a very low sigh. "You've been spending a whole lot of time with her lately. If you're not sleeping or coaching, you're basically out with Celia."

Mike smiled and let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, isn't it great? I think Celia and I are really starting to hit it off. You may not understand romance like I do, Sulley, but let me tell you, it's one of the greatest feelings in the world."

Sulley rolled his eyes, having heard this same statement over and over again from Mike. "Eh, believe it or not Mike, there are people who are a bunch more romantic than you are." He paused for a moment before also saying, "And what do you mean by me not understanding romance." Sulley crossed his arms. "I understand plenty about romance."

"Really?" Mike asked, rolling his eye. "You, the monster that does nothing but work-out, sleep, and scare little children, understands plenty about romance. Sulley, no offence, but you haven't done anything even remotely romantic with a girl in years."

"Sure I have," Sulley said with a faint smile, trying to convince Mike otherwise.

"Oh, yeah?" Mike asked with a smirk on his face. "Name one case in the past year."

"Well…" Sulley hesitated to even think of one girl that he has been out with. But after some heavy thought, he couldn't even think of a case in the past two years. Sulley frowned. "Well, yeah. I can't think of anything."

Mike frowned, noticing that he might have upset Sulley a little. "Listen, buddy. I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that. But, if you really want all of that, then you should get on out there and go do something about it."

Sulley nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

A door went down onto the machine and Mike turned it on. "Here, this one will make you feel better. This used to be one of Randall's kids, but Roz has been giving out new assignments. So, go show this one who's the new monster in town."

Sulley nodded and gave him a slick smile. "You got it, Mike. Let's do this." Sulley went into the door and did his normal scare routine. He never really deviated from it too much since it was always so successful for him. This case was no different. Once Sulley let out his signature roar, the child screamed loud enough for even Mike to hear on the other side.

Sulley exited through the door again and Mike sent it away. "There you go, buddy. Lots of screams, just like you're used to."

Sulley smiled. "Thanks, Mike. Let's go get you to Celia and you two can have your lunch."

Mike nodded. "Sounds good."

The two of them began walking out of the scare floor. Sulley turned to Mike and asked, "You know what I've been wondering, though? Especially after getting that door from Randall, I wonder where he has been."

"A lot of people have been calling in sick," Mike replied. "I guess some kind of flu has been going around in Monstropolis."

"That's what I thought, too. But I could've sworn that Randall was here today. He went down a different hallway than normal."

"Well, it doesn't really matter, I guess," Mike stated. "He's been gone for a good week now, and you must've racked up a bunch of points to push way past him. I mean, look at the leaderboards. You must be a champion at this point."

Sulley looked up at the leaderboards and immediately felt shocked about something. "Uh… Mike. I'm definitely beating Randall, alright."

"Why do you say it like that?" Mike asked as he stopped. He looked up at the leaderboards and immediately saw what Sulley was referring to. "Wow."

Sulley was number one, of course. However, Randall's name was nowhere to be seen anywhere on the leaderboards. It was completely wiped. "This can't be."

"You don't think that Randall got fired, do you?" Mike asked as they continued to go to the front desk.

"I don't know. You'd think that we would all know if a scarer was just fired."

"No… actually, Mr. Waternoose is pretty conservative when he fires people. It's practically incognito. He fires them and they're practically wiped from Monsters Inc. completely."

"Wow…" Sulley said with a heavy sigh. "What are we going to do without Randall? I mean, you have to admit that he was cool to compete with, even if he was a jerk about it half of the time."

Mike shook his head. "Pssht, no. I don't know what you felt when he was constantly trying to be better than us, but I didn't exactly appreciate the constant insults."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." They made it to the main lobby and the two headed towards Celia who was sitting in her usual spot behind the front desk. Sulley continued to look around and he eventually spotted a familiar sight. An eight-legged purple lizard heading out of an obscure hallway towards the main exit. "Hey, Mike. You and Celia have a good lunch. I'll see you back at the scare floor in a half hour."

"You got it, Sulley. See you later."

Sulley then left Mike and headed for Randall who was just reaching the exit. Soon after they both left Monsters Incorporated, Sulley finally caught up with Randall.

Randall turned to his left and immediately noticed when Sulley was at his side. "Sullivan?"

"Hey, Randall," Sulley said, stopping to chat with Randall.

"You're… probably wondering why I haven't been around lately," Randall said, fiddling with his small fingers.

"Well, yeah. I thought you were sick for the past few days, but then I suddenly noticed that you weren't even on scoreboards anymore. Did they fire you?"

"Here, walk with me," Randall started. "I only have a half-hour lunch, so I have to hurry it up." Randall began walking towards the market area of the city, and Sulley followed closely behind. "I wasn't from Monsters Inc. as you can probably tell from me still roaming around. I was just… reassigned. I'm not a scarer anymore."

"Not a scarer anymore?" Sulley asked. "Why would they reassign you? You're one of the top three scarers at this company."

"That's what I told Waternoose. But he figured my skills would be better suited for the Investigation Ward. He said that the company was lacking good investigators, and he basically just signed me up right away."

"What the heck is the Investigation Ward? I've never heard of it before."

"Neither did I until last week. But the child details in those files of yours; they don't just magically appear when we get a new door. The Investigation Ward essentially sneaks into the child's home and spies on it for a few days until they got the data that they need. I was in some girl's room for 5 hours last night…"

"Wow… that's crazy," Sulley said. He turned to Randall and said, "You don't look too upset by that, though."

Randall shook his head. "No, I am. I'm just a lot better than I was before. I almost threatened to quit because I didn't appreciate being ripped from my preferred job like that."

"Yeah, I would've been furious. We went to college for this. Well… mostly."

Randall let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, you get the point. The thing is… the Investigation Ward changed me a bit. I'm constantly in the human world, just sitting in a corner while I stay camouflaged for hours on end. And when I'm back here in the monster world, it's not any better."

"What do you mean?" Sulley asked.

"You don't get to interact with your friends. Heck, you don't even get to interact with your partner who tracks your progress and writes down the data as it comes. Everyone down there just keeps to themselves." Randall looked down to the ground. "That's kind of when I realized that I didn't really have any friends to begin with. Everyone's too afraid to talk to me. They say that I'm intimidating."

"That can't be true," Sulley responded. "Fungus must be your friend."

Randall shook his head. "Fungus is gone, Sulley. They put the poor guy on leave since he didn't have what it takes to take my place as a scarer. They have to hire a new scarer first before they can bring Fungus back." Randall looked at the city and saw a bunch of happy faces in the market. It didn't change his bleak look. "Fungus blames me for getting fired. I tried to tell him that I didn't have any choice, but he didn't want to believe me."

Sulley frowned, actually feeling legitimately upset for Randall. "That's rough, man. I don't think that I'd be able to handle something like that for me. I'm sorry."

Randall stopped, causing Sulley to stop as well. "Don't feel sorry for me, Sullivan. We both know I deserve to be kicked down a few notches after how I've treated everyone at the company." Randall looked around before maintaining his focus on Sulley again. "To be honest with you, sitting in the human world for hours on end really gave me some time to think about what a jerk I've been."

"You were just doing that for the sake of competition," Sulley said. "A little bit of competitiveness doesn't hurt anyone."

"Even so, I took it too far and… I wanted to say that I'm sorry." Randall reached his hand out to Sulley and said, "I really do respect you a lot as a scarer, and as a person in general. I hope you can find it in you to forgive me for all of those terrible years in the past."

Sulley grabbed Randall's hand and shook it. "Of course, Randall. Believe it or not, it takes a lot of guts to go up to somebody and say all of that. I have a lot of respect for you, too, and I hope that we can be good friends in the future."

Randall smiled, eventually letting go of Sulley's hand. "Thanks, that really does mean a lot to me." They continued walking to the café that Randall was heading to. "And please, call me Randy. My friends call me Randy. Randall's too formal."

"Only if you call me Sulley," Sulley said with a chuckle.

Randy chuckled in return. "You got it." They made it to the café and they both stopped at the entrance. "Well… this is my stop."

"Yeah. I'll let you get some food. Hopefully I'll see you around."

Before Sulley could turn around, Randy said, "Wait, Sulley." Sulley turned around. "We both have the same lunch break. Why don't you just come eat here with me? You're already here anyways, so why not?"

Sulley shrugged. "Sure, that actually sounds pretty great. I could go for something different than a burger for once."

Randy opened the door for Sulley and said, "Well, after you."

Sulley smiled and nodded, entering the café. Randy entered shortly after he did.


	2. Chapter 2

Investigation Ward

Chapter 2

Sulley and Randall got their food and sat down at one of the tables close to the window. In the midst of eating, Sulley looked up at Randall.

"You're a bit quiet," Sulley said.

"I was going to say the same to you," Randall responded.

"Well, I was wondering if there was anything bothering you," Sulley remarked.

"I'm just thinking about the Investigation Ward," Randall groaned. "The things I've seen in the human world are keeping me down."

"Like what?" Sulley asked as he took another bite out of his sandwich.

"Well, the main thing is that they are a lot like us, except maybe better."

"What does that mean?" Sulley asked.

"Well…" Randall started. "The humans that I've seen so far have been very good family-wise. They treat their kids well, and their kids treat their parents well. It's all so… innocent. It bothers me a lot."

"Why would a thing like that bother you? I kind of figured that you would think that's cool."

"Because I never got that kind of treatment!" Randall yelled.

"Wait, what?" Sulley asked.

"Just ask Mike, Sulley," Randall groaned, looking down at the table. "I was his roommate for half of freshman year, and we were best buddies. I was this nice, nerdy person for a little bit at Monster's University. Then… everybody started treating me like crap."

"How can that possibly be true?" Sulley asked. "You were accepted into the greatest scaring fraternities of all-time. And Johnny seemed to like you!"

Randall nodded. "Yeah, that's when… that's when I felt myself change a bit. After people rejected for being this nerd, ROR accepted me into their fraternity and I was suddenly this cool kid." He looked up to Sulley and glared. "And you know what, I liked it. I liked it a lot. Even though I was a jerk to you guys and the rest of the Oozma Kappas, I had the best experience of my life."

"I see," Sulley sighed. He didn't know that Randall was holding all of that back for so many years. He knew exactly why, too. Sulley was in the same boat when he was rejected by the scaring program, Dean Hardscrabble, and Roar Omega Roar all at once. It was one of his darkest moments. "Why are you suddenly talking about all of this now?"

"Because I'm back where I started, Sullivan." Sulley noticed his sudden name change back to Sullivan. "I was #2 on the scaring charts for such a long time, and I understand why I was behind you. You're a fantastic scarer from an upbringing of other fantastic scarers. But… regardless of that, people looked up to me. They saw some amazing scaring on my part."

"I'm confused," Sulley responded. "Shouldn't that make you happy? You're up there with the big shots, and you sound kind of upset."

Randall shook his head. "I treated them all like dirt, Sulley. I even drove away my only friend: Fungus. Then what happens? I lose my scaring job to go work in a place where no monsters want to talk to me… and I get to watch humans have a happy life before monsters come in to scare the living crap out of the child every night."

"Wow…" Sulley barely mustered. He never really saw things in a different perspective before, but this really opened his mind up. Sulley could never really admit it to himself, but his life so far had been ideal. He was born into a famous scaring family, got to be a temporary part of the greatest scaring fraternities, and managed to go from the bottom to the top in a major scaring company in an incredibly short amount of time.

His life was good.

"I didn't really think that this would hit you so hard, Randy," Sulley said, giving the friendly nickname another shot.

"It did, Sulley," Randall said.

"Alright, well that's it," Sulley said as he finished his meal.

"What's it?" Randall asked, squinting his eyes like normal.

Sulley pointed at Randall. "Tonight after work, you're coming by the apartment. Then I'm going to take you on a walk through the city. You look like you could use a total breather after all of this."

Randall shrugged. "I don't know, Sulley. I don't know if I can bring myself to be around people. I think I'm just going to head on home tonight and get some rest. Maybe I'll feel a little bit better about this if I get some sleep."

"Oh," Sulley said, feeling a bit empty. "Well, if that's what you want, Randy, then I guess I can't really stop you."

"Though, maybe we can do another lunch like this tomorrow," Randy said, looking up. "Same time?"

"Yeah, that'll be great," Sulley said. He looked up at the clock before saying, "We only have five more minutes to get back to the factory, so we should start heading out."

"I agree," Randall said. They threw away the remainder of their food and headed to the café. After the awkward talk that the two of them had, they both walked in silence back to Monsters Inc. Sulley knew that Randall would have to go back to the Investigation Ward and he really wanted to reassure him that everything was going to be okay. Though, he couldn't find the words nor the drive to say anything, so he remained silent.

They made it back to Monsters Inc. and they stopped at the front desk where Mike and Celia had just returned and were talking. Sulley sighed, getting a bit tired of seeing Mike and Celia being around each all of the time. He just turned back to Randall and said, "Well… hopefully things go alright for you at the Investigation Ward today, Randy. I mean, with you just sitting in someone's house for a long time, this will give you the chance to take a load off, I guess."

"Yeah, I have to keep reminding myself of that," Randall said, feeling a bit better than before. "Otherwise it just gets boring watching humans eat dinner. I don't even know how they bare that… Just scarf the food down your throat and leave; simple as that."

Sulley chuckled. "Yeah, but don't they also talk about their days or something when they're around the dinner table. At least, that's what I learned in my Human Domestics class back when I actually was at Monsters University."

Randall sighed. "Yeah, but if only they would talk about something more interesting. Hearing about a person getting a new job and an older kid getting into some school called Harvard Law is just a big yawn to me."

Sulley rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well… try to stay awake through it. I'm sure you can manage."

Randall nodded. "I will. You take care, Sulley. I doubt we'll see each other for the rest of the day, so I'll see you here for lunch tomorrow."

"Cool," Sulley responded. "I'll see you then."

Randall walked away and Sulley turned around to face Mike, who was giving him a confused look.

"What were you doing with, Randall?" Mike asked.

"Just chilling, why?"

Mike scoffed. "Oh, I don't know. We haven't seen him for a couple of weeks and now he's suddenly back and you were talking to him as you two were good buddies."

Sulley rolled his eyes. He turned to Celia and said, "Sorry, Celia. But can I steal your boyfriend? We need to get back to work."

Celia nodded. "I need to get back to work, too. Bye, Mikey."

Mike smiled. "Bye, Schmoopsy-bear." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking with Sulley.

Sulley rolled his and let out a groan, being slightly sickened by Mike's gushy romance with Celia.

"Are you going to say anything?" Mike asked after a few moments of silence.

"What do you want me to say, Mike?" Sulley responded. "Randall's a good guy if you just get to know him."

"A good gu- What?!" Mike yelled back. "Sulley, you were barely with the guy for a couple of minutes and you have changed your entire thought process of him. He's now a good guy?"

"Mike, calm down," Sulley said, stopping Mike in his tracks. "We had lunch together and Randall says that he feels bad for all of the years that he's been a jerk to everyone. We talked about it at length and he seems really serious."

Mike rolled his eye. "Sulley, he's a manipulator. I can't believe he dragged you into, too. I thought you were better than that."

"And I thought you were better than this," Sulley yelled back. "A little while ago, you were the type of person who would make friends with anybody easily. Now, you're tearing Randall apart, despite what I, your best friend, says. For pete's sake, Mike, he was your roommate and good friend in college. How can you forget that?"

Mike sighed. "It took a long time. But after one too many insults and degrading comments, good ol' Randy Boggs turned into the Randall that we know and hate." Mike put on his cap before stepping onto the scare floor. "Now, you can tell me all about how he got fired later, since he clearly doesn't work on the scare floor anymore. For now, let's get back to work."

Sulley grunted. He was used to Mike pushing him to get back to work. But this time, he felt that Mike was pushing the limits and was going almost too far. Though, he knew he had to take it for now until he could prove to Mike that Randall was actually a good person and was worth having as a friend.

'_At least Randy eats lunch with me,'_ Sulley whispered to himself. _'Cuz that's what friends do.'_

For the rest of the day, Sulley continued to do his normal scaring routine. His scares were somewhat impeded by his thoughts, but even with that set-back, he was still doing better than most of his peers.

At 9 o'clock, a short and quiet alarm went off. The floor manager yelled, "Send back all of your doors, no exceptions! Be proud of yourselves, ladies and gentleman. This is the third day in a row that we have more than met our daily quota."

Sulley wiped away a piece of sweat from his forehead as he took a breather. He did more doors than normal, and his throat was getting scratchy from all of the roaring. He went over to the table and turned to Mike. "How'd we do?"

"Fine," Mike said, much calmer than he was earlier. "Tonight's work will slightly lower your average, but it's not too bad. Your success this morning made up for it."

Sulley rolled his eyes. He knew that Mike cared about Sulley's average more than he did, and it bothered him. It was his own score and the only thing that it changed was a number on a playing card. "Whatever…" Sulley said. "As long as I get the screams, then that's all that matters."

"Yeah," Mike said quietly. He collected all of his files and prepared them to be shipped over to their proper places. "Listen, Sulley. I'm sorry about yelling at you earlier. You were just trying to defend a friend and I was being apprehensive."

Sulley shook his head. "It's alright, Mike." They began walking out of the scare floor. The last ones as usual. "So… does this mean that you'll give Randall a chance? Because I figure we'll be talking more often."

"I'll give lizard boy a chance, but it doesn't mean I like him," Mike said, his voice getting slightly lower. "I don't know about you, but he's going to need to put in a little effort to gain my trust again."

"And I can respect that," Sulley responded, glad that Mike could actually be open-minded at times.

As they entered the main lobby, Mike then said, "Oh, and I'm going out with Celia tonight and I might spend the night at her place. So if I'm not home in the morning, you'll know where I am."

"Yeah, I kinda figured," Sulley said silently. He knew that it only a matter of time until Mike started sleeping at Celia's place. Especially since her apartment was much nicer than theirs was. "I'll be here at 7 AM, sharp. Don't forget."

"Pssht. As if I would forget something like that. See ya, Sulley." Mike left Sulley's side and headed over to the counter where Celia was packing up her stuff.

Sulley sighed and began to walk out of the factory until someone ran up to him and stopped him. It was Randall.

"Randy!" Sulley exclaimed. "What's up?"

"I was hoping to run into you," Randall said. "You know how you offered to take me out through the city?"

"Of course, why?"

"Well… I've had several hours in the human world to think about it, and I changed my mind. Do you still want to go?"

"Hm… let me think about that," Sulley said with a bit of sarcasm. "An empty apartment that I can do nothing but watch movies in, or hang out with a friend."

Randall rolled his eyes. "Don't beat around the bush, Sullivan. Do you want to go or not?"

Sulley chuckled. "Fine. But we're going to need to run by a joke shop or something, because you need to find yourself a sense of humor."

Randall let out a small laugh. "Hah, very funny. Maybe you can get better jokes while we're there."

"You got me there," Sulley said with a smile. "Let's go."


	3. Chapter 3

Investigation Ward

Chapter 3

Randall and Sulley left Monsters Inc. as they went out into the town.

"Do you think we can run by my place first? I would like to get a few things." Randall asked.

"Sure, Randy. Let's go."

The two of them went over to Randall's apartment, making small talk along the way. Randall took Sulley to a shady part of the city and went into an apartment complex that Sulley didn't even recognize.

Sulley followed Randall to the second floor, and for whatever reason, the entire environment was unsettling. He entered Randall's small apartment and took a look around. "Randall… you live in a place like this?"

"Yeah…" Randall said, dropping off his keys onto a nearby couch. "I moved a few days ago since my pay was cut down. Scaring definitely pays more than being an investigator.

"Waternoose really made a dink in your life by throwing you down into the Investigation Ward," Sulley stated, almost upset for Randall's sake.

"Yeah, well don't remind me. I spent an hour after lunch in his office, complaining to him that I don't deserve this terrible treatment." Randall grabbed a small, black handbag and threw it around his shoulder.

Sulley frowned, though he was actually resisting the urge to make fun of Randall for carrying around a handbag. "Why did you wait until now to bring it up with Waternoose?" Sulley asked.

"Because when I talked to you about it at lunch today… it made me realize how unfair all of this is. Like… I would do anything to be back on the scare floor right now, but Waternoose told me that my skills are no longer needed there and we need more people in the Investigation Ward so we can shoot out doors more quickly.

"But you're one of the top scarers that this factory has ever seen!" Sulley exclaimed, trying to justify Randall's side.

"You don't think I know that already, Sulley!" Randall yelled, getting up in Sulley's face. He retracted a bit before saying, "Sorry… but it's been a pain, Sulley. Like… I don't want even scare for the sake of beating you anymore. I want to scare for the sake of scaring… and for the sake of getting me back to my old apartment. I just installed the fourth lock on my door because I'm so paranoid."

Sulley looked at the door and suppressed a chuckle. There were indeed four locks stacked on top of the door knob. "That's a bit… unnecessary."

"Some guys stole my YBox while I was sleeping," Randall said, rolling his eyes. "And I have reason to suspect that they tried to get in again." Randall gave chuckled a little before saying, "I need my video games, Sulley."

Sulley smiled. "Well, you're always welcome at my place if you're not feeling comfortable here. You can stay in Mike's bed since the little green glob is spending so much time at his girlfriend's house."

"You mean Celia?" Randall asked, calming down a bit. "I swear, what does a pretty girl like that see in Mike?"

"I have no idea." Sulley said with a sigh. He turned to Randall and asked, "And 'pretty girl'? You make it sound like you like her, too."

Randall smirked as he led Sulley out of his apartment. "Me with Celia? Yeah, not in a million years. She has a personality that makes dogs seem more interesting. It's all kisses and blah blah blah with her."

"You sound like you come from experience."

Randall rolled his eyes. "Not exactly, but something like that."

Sulley chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. But things have been lonely back at the apartment since Mike spends every free second that he has with her. I mean, he was a pain in the butt, but at least he was someone I could talk to. Now, the only talking I do is when I'm yelling at the TV."

"And me," Randall said, looking up at Sulley.

Sulley nodded and smiled. "Yeah, and you. In fact, I'm actually pretty happy that you wanted to come along after all. I could totally use a friend right now."

"Well…" Randall paused and smiled. "You were there for me when I was in a ditch, and I'm more than happy to return the favor… mate."

"Did you just say mate?" Sulley asked, finding it funny.

"Of course not," Randall quickly responded. "That's just ridiculous. I'm not from Monstralia or wherever they say that." He frowned, recalling a time in his late high school career where he went through a Monstralian accent phase. He knew that Mike got a small taste of it when they first moved into MU.

"Okay," Sulley said, knowing for sure that Randall said it. "I'll just take your word for it."

"Yeah, you do that."

Sulley and Randall left the sketchy part of town, trying to make their way back to the main city where most of the shops were. Monstropolis, depending on the day, was very active at night. Most people liked to do their shopping at night since it was all outdoor, and Monstropolis tended to get hot, even in some parts of winter.

They went to a few shops and did some simple browsing, but they didn't really buy anything. They really just did a bunch of talking, and tried to figure out what each person liked based on what they wanted to buy.

"Maybe you can get yourself a handbag to match the one you have now," Sulley joked.

Randall rolled his eyes. "Really? You had all of this time to make fun of it, and you wait until now? It mostly would only take a few seconds for anyone else to jump at the opportunity."

"What can I say?" Sulley started, cocking his head to the side. "I guess I'm just more classy than that. I wait until a better opportunity."

"Yeah, right," Randall said, placing his hands on his 'hips'. "Does James P. Sullivan have a heart and not make fun of guys with handbags?"

Sulley smiled and crossed his arms. "I don't see how it matters to you, Boggs." He grabbed one of the handbags from the rack and placed it around his shoulder. "I think this one would be pretty nice to take to work. What do you think?"

Randall took a look at it and immediately took it off his arm, putting it on the rack. "Are you kidding? Red would not suit you at all. You should take this blue one." He grabbed a blue handbag from the rack, but then put it back after a few moments. "Wow… I just heard myself. That was perhaps the girliest thing I have ever said in my life."

Sulley shrugged, stifling a laugh. "Don't worry about it, Randall. I think that it's nice that you're looking after me." He grabbed the blue handbag that Randall picked out for him and threw it around his shoulder. "Besides, this one fits me nicely."

"Wait, you're seriously going to buy that?" Randall asked. "Aren't you afraid that people are going to make fun of you? I only take this around if I really need it."

Sulley shook his head. "No, besides. I'm constantly going to the factory without any snacks or anything to drink, and I'm already dying an hour before lunch. I need something to carry stuff in." He shrugged. "Besides, I can bash some heads in if someone were to mess with James P. Sullivan."

"I'd bash some heads if I caught someone making fun of you," Randall said, a smile creeping up on his face. "But… I'm sure you got it covered. Here, why don't I buy it for you? My treat."

"You serious?" Sulley asked. "We were just talking about your cut pay an hour ago. Do you really want to spend any money on me?"

"Sure, Sulley. Besides, that thing can't possibly be too expensive, so it's not like it's a big burden on me."

Sulley smiled. "Thanks, Randall."

Randall took the handbag up to the register and paid for it. They then exited the store and did some more exploring of the city. After it had struck 11:30, Randall figured that he should return home since he had to be up early for work the next day. They walked back to Randall's apartment… but there was a problem.

When they made it onto the block with Randall's apartment, he immediately noticed the lights from police cars. They ran forward and noticed that his entire apartment complex was surrounded with police cars.

Randall went forward and Sulley closely behind. He went up to the officer and asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

"There has been a report of major violence," the police officer responded. "A mother and her children were severely injured and the suspect is currently hiding somewhere in this complex. No-one will be allowed in or out of there until we are done here."

"What am I supposed to do then?" Randall asked. "I live here and I have to be at work early tomorrow morning."

"Well, this is more important than your precious sleep time," the officer rudely said.

"Why, you little-…" Randall said, getting angry.

Sulley grabbed onto Randall's top arms and dragged him back. "Calm down, Randall." He looked over at the police officer before saying, "Sorry for bothering you." Sulley led Randall away from the apartment complex.

"What did you do that for?" Randall asked.

"You can't just go beating up cops, Randy," Sulley said.

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" Randall asked. "I don't want to wait on the sidelines while I wait for the cops to catch this guy. That'll take ages."

"Well, my offer from before still stands," Sulley said. "You can stay at the apartment since Mike is spending the night at Celia's."

"Wait, you were serious about that?" Randall asked, calming down a bit.

"Why would I kid about that?" Sulley asked, chuckling. "So do you want to come sleep in a comfortable bed, or sit on a curb for the next couple of hours?"

"Well… I think the question kind of answers itself," Randall said, avoiding Sulley's gaze.

"I think so, too. Let's go."

Sulley led Randall back to his apartment. It was a bit messy since both he and Mike had neglected to clean it, but there was definitely enough room to easily roam around without tripping over something.

Sulley entered Mike's room and turned on the light. "Here it is. Mike's got plenty of blankets, so you should be all set for the night."

Randall entered the room and took a look around. His first impression was that Mike had zero taste in decorations, but he wasn't prepared to say that in front of Sulley, so he left it alone. He turned around and said, "I can't thank you enough, Sulley. This is really nice of you."

Sulley shrugged. "It's nothing, Randy. You needed a place to stay and I had a place to give."

"Well… it's nice regardless." Randall placed his hand on Mike's mattress and got a feel for how comfortable it actually was.

"You're welcome," Sulley said, standing at the doorway. "My room is across the way, so don't be afraid to wake me in the middle of the night if you need anything. Just a light shake will do the trick."

Randall nodded. "Alright, Sulley. Well… good night, I guess."

"Good night, Randy," Sulley said, closing Randall's door before heading to his own bedroom.

Randall crawled into Mike's bed, coiling himself until he was comfortable. It didn't take long for his exhaustion to take over. Randall wasn't used to dreaming when he was asleep, but he had a lot on his mind that day, especially since so much had happened. His sleep was full of visions, but one of them stood out the most to him.

_Randall was back at his own apartment. The clock read 11:30 and he was about to go to bed when suddenly the door was kicked open, despite the four locks on it. Randall camouflaged into his chair, but the intruder had already seem him when he entered._

_The intruder was a bulky monster; someone who could even give Roy a run for his money. He walked up to the chair and put him in his clutches, causing him to go back to his natural purple color. "You're going to give me every last penny that you have," the guy say with a low, burly voice._

"_I don't have very much money," Randall barely said, not being able to say much since the man was constricting his airflow._

"_I recognize you. You're Randall Boggs from Monsters Inc. I can connect the dots. Where is your money?"_

"_I'm not a scarer anymore," Randall said, started to lose feeling in some of his hand. "I don't make that kind of money anymore."_

_The man grunted, tightening his grip on Randall. "I don't like liars. You are worthless to me." He threw Randall onto the ground and stepped on his throat. "I'll find your money without your help."_

_Randall tried to take a breath, but not only was the wind knocked out of him, but his airflow was completely constricted. His heartbeat went down to a slower and slower pace until…_

Randall woke up with a shrill scream. He jumped out of the bed, almost forgetting where he was. He looked around and noticed that he was still in Mike's bedroom.

He immediately heard footsteps coming towards the door of the bedroom. The door swung open, revealing Sulley on the other side. "Randall, are you okay?! I heard you scream."

Randall's heart rate was incredibly high at that point and there was sweat streaming down his face. "It was just a… it was just a nightmare, Sulley. Don't worry about me. You can go back to sleep."

Sulley sat on the bed next to Randall. "You want to talk about it?"

Randall shook his head. "No… but there's no way I'm getting back to sleep now. I guess I'll take the one hour of sleep that I got and leave it at that."

Sulley sighed. "Are you sure? I mean, I know that I can't do any work when I'm running on one hour of sleep. Is there anything that I can do to help?"

"I don't think so. I'm usually fine with most of the dreams I have, but when it involves death… it's a bit difficult to take."

"Well…" Sulley thought for a moment. "I don't know how you feel about this, but… you can sleep in my bed if you want. I know it might not mean much to you, but at least you'll feel a bit more protected."

Randall looked up at Sulley, too tired to think about the logistics of the plan. "You're fine with that? You don't think that's weird?"

"Mike and I have shared the same bed several times and he snores. I wouldn't mind at all."

"Oh… well, if it's no burden to you," Randall started, rubbing his eyes, "Then I guess I would prefer sleep over no sleep."

"I definitely agree with that statement," Sulley said, maintaining a smile. "Come here." He led Randall over to his bedroom. "It's a pretty big bed, so you find any spot that makes you comfortable."

"Alright, then," Randall said with a heavy yawn. He coiled up in one corner of the bed and Sulley joined him on the other side of the bed.

"Better?" Sulley asked.

"Yeah…" Randall replied quietly. "Better."


	4. Chapter 4

Investigation Ward

Chapter 4

Sulley woke up the next morning with a heavy yawn. The sun was just peaking over the horizon, which meant that he had to get ready for work soon.

After getting out of bed, trying his best to wake himself up, he noticed that there was something off. He had remembered that Randall went to sleep in the same bed as him. Sulley looked back to the bed and noticed that Randall was gone.

"Oh, god," Sulley said, starting to think pessimistically. "What trouble is he pulling with me? He shouldn't have left on his own."

Sulley quickly exited his room and noticed something else that was off. There was a slight sizzling sound over by his kitchen and a wonderful, intoxicating smell filled the small apartment. He sniffed in the smell and wondered where it was coming from. He walked forward and noticed that Randall was in front of the stove making pancakes.

"Randall, what are you doing?" Sulley asked as he rubbed his eyes.

Randall looked up and saw Sulley. "Well… I slept for a little bit, but then I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. So I figured that I would make some breakfast with the stuff that you've got here."

"You can cook?" Sulley asked, looking at the delicious batch of pancakes.

"Well…" Randall started as he flipped a pancake over. "There's a story attached to this, but you better not tell. If you do, I'll throw you into a door shredder."

Sulley chuckled. "Well, you're already giving me pancakes, so there's no way I would want to mess that up. I won't tell anybody."

"Well, my mom is a pastry chef," Randall admitted. "She taught me how to cook most of the things that I know now. It's why I don't really eat out all that much. Why eat out when you can make good food yourself."

"Yeah, that sounds awesome, Randy," Sulley said, smiling. "And it's awesome that you're cooking for the both of us," he said, noticing the large stack of pancakes.

"Eh, you let me stay here," Randall said as he threw another pancake onto a plate. "AND you even let me stay in your bed in the middle of the night. It's the least I can do."

"Well, I appreciate it a lot," Sulley said, sitting down at the table. "Also, we have to leave in about forty minutes. Just thought I'd let you know."

"I know," Randall said as he brought over the large stack of pancakes. "Actually, I was wondering if you would like to go in early with me so you can check out the Investigation Ward. It's pretty dim down there, but I guess it's pretty cool."

"Are you allowed to bring guests down there?" Sulley asked as he tossed a few pancakes onto his own plate. "I know for a fact that I'm not allowed to have any of my friends near the Scare Floor."

"Yeah, I'm sure it would be a bit of a problem for outsiders," Randall said, pouring himself a glass of water. "But, you're the top scarer of Monsters Inc. How mad could they be?"

Sulley shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Though, if it looks like you're going to get in trouble because of me, I'm bailing."

Randall chuckled. "Sounds fair. Now eat."

"Yes, sir," Sulley responded, being sarcastic. He dug into the pancakes, eating one by one with no problem. Randall looked in awe, since he knew he couldn't eat that much with his scrawny figure.

After 25 minutes of eating and getting ready for work, the both of them headed off to Monsters Inc. They entered through the front gates and got to witness what the factory looked like while people were still preparing for the day. Sulley never got to see this, because he was always nearly on-time or slightly late. He didn't enjoy being late, but work always bit into his sleeping time.

Randall led Sulley into a corridor that Sulley didn't go down before. The farther they went, the less lights that lit the path.

"I see what you mean by dim," Sulley said. "Has anyone said anything about giving this place better lighting?"

Randall shook his head. "No. Apparently this low lighting is done on purpose. It's supposed to scare a kid back into the human world if one were to get in here."

Sulley rolled his eyes. "That's ridiculous. There are way better ways to do that."

"That's what I told them," Randall said, looking over at Sulley. "But things are a little different now. My reputation didn't follow me from being a scarer. Right now, I'm a rookie all over again."

"And that's why Waternoose is an idi-…"

"Shh…" Randall said, putting a finger to his lip. "People are normally down here really earlier. You don't want to go around degrading people when someone can hear you."

"Yeah, sorry."

They kept going down the hallway until they reached the door. Right about the door had a sign that read 'Investigation Ward'. Randall pulled out a key and unlocked the door. He opened it and they entered the next room.

"Here we are," Randall said.

Sulley looked around. It was essentially a long hallway with a bunch of rooms on both sides. Each room was small, and had very few things in each. Sulley looked in the window of one of them and looked around. A door to the human world and a few computer screens. That was it.

"This place looks like a high-tech prison," Sulley said with a sigh. "Small rooms and crappy lighting. This is nothing like what you would get on the scaring floor."

Randall nodded. "I know. I almost thought that this place was a joke when Waternoose took me here. Almost looks like an abandoned scare floor since it's so small. But no… it's the real deal."

"So, what happens here?" Sulley asked.

"It's simple," Randall responded. He unlocked one of the rooms and the both of them entered. They both could fit, but there wasn't much when it came to wiggle room.

Randall pointed to the door to the human world. "The hider goes into the human world through this door and stays there for several hours." He then pointed to the computer screens. "The observer sits in that chair and watches for several hours."

Sulley waited a few moments, expecting to hear more. When he didn't, he asked, "That's it?"

Randall nodded. "Yeah, that's it." Randall grabbed a little cap and said, "I put this on my head everytime I go in. It's not like we can put cameras into the human world, so they have to put them in these caps."

"So… you put that thing on, find a place where the humans are, and just wait?"

"Yeah," Randall responded, nodding. "You hit it right on the nose. It's the most exciting job in the world, right?" Randall asked sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, totally," Sulley said, following Randall's sarcasm. "I would've quit by now. I don't have the patience."

Randall shook his head as he put the cap back down. "Eh, I said that at the beginning, too, but just think about what it's like to be in my shoes. Where else would I go if I quit here?"

Sulley sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Randall looked up at one of the clocks and then back to Sulley. "My partner will probably here soon and Mike's probably waiting for you on the scare floor. You should probably get going."

"Oh… alright," Sulley said as he stepped out of the room. "See ya." He went over to the door and was about to exit when he heard Randall stop him.

"Oh, wait! Are we still on for lunch today? Same time?" Randall asked, hoping he'll say yes.

Sulley smiled and nodded. "Of course, that'd be great. I'll see you the-..ow." Sulley got hit by a door when a rushing work went through. "Well, excuse you," Sulley said as he rubbed his arm.

The guy turned around and said, "Whatever, you were in my way."

Sulley rolled his eyes and exited the Investigation Ward without another glimpse at either him or Randall.

Randall crossed his arms. "That wasn't cool, Ronnie. That's my friend that you just hit with a door."

Ronnie rolled his eyes. "I didn't ask for you opinion, Boggs. Now shut it and get in there before I ram your head with a door."

Randall waited until Ronnie was far enough away before growling. "If you're not careful, then there's going to be your monster parts spewing out of the door shredder," Randall whispered to himself. He put on his cap and headed into the human world.

Sulley headed over to the scare floor, passing by other Investigation Ward employees. He now understood why he never really saw Randall around the building for the past week, because he didn't even recognize any of the IW employees.

Once he made it to the Scare Floor, he saw that Mike was waiting for him with his arms crossed. He didn't look too happy. Sulley went up to him and said, "Hey, Mike. How was your night with Celia?"

"Oh it was great," Mike said in a less-than-satisfied tone. "Yeah, my night with Celia was great. How was your night with your new boyfriend?"

"New boyfriend?" Sulley asked. "What do you mean new boyfriend?"

"What do I mean? Why, I'm talking about Randall who was in our apartment last night!" Mike exclaimed. "That's our sacred pad where no one but us and Celia is allowed."

"Oh, so only YOU are allowed to bring guests back to the apartment?" Sulley asked. "And how did you know that Randall was at the apartment? Were you spying on me?"

"No!" Mike exclaimed. "I called the house to make sure that you were up. It was a total surprise to hear Randall's voice on the other end."

Sulley sighed, not aware that Randall had talked to Mike. "He did, what did he say?"

"He said hello, I said who's this, he said Randall and quickly hung up. If you didn't get here for another couple of minutes, I would've thought that Randall killed you or something."

"Now, you're just being irrational," Sulley said, rolling his eyes.

"Irrational? What was Randall doing in our apartment?"

"Because I like Randall!" Sulley yelled. "And he likes me, too, and he made me pancakes. Damn good ones, too." Sulley looked around and noticed that people were staring at him. "I'll give you all 5 bucks to forget what you just heard."

They all shrugged and went back to their business.

Mike looked up to Sulley and sighed. "I'm just going to pretend that you only said that because you're upset with me. Let's just… drop this and get to the work.

Sulley sighed. "Fine. But if I hear anything negative about Randall from now on, I'll have to throw you into a door shredder, and I know you're not going to like it."

Mike rolled his eye, recognizing the insult since Randall used it all the time. "Fine, whatever. Just go scare some kids, alright?"

He nodded. "Fine."

Sulley continued to scare until lunchtime. With the combination of Mike being mad at him and thinking of Randall's treatment in the Investigation Ward, Sulley's performance was down. This time, it was noticeable.

Though after their fight, Mike wasn't prepared to bring that up with Sulley. They simply walked to the front desk together, not saying a word to each other.

"So what are you doing for lunch?" Mike eventually asked, trying to break the ice.

"I'm going somewhere with Randall," Sulley answered quickly.

"Oh…" Mike responded. "Well… say hi to him for me, alright?"

Sulley smiled, glad that Mike was at least trying to make the most of this. "I will. Say hi to Celia for me."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, I will. See ya, Sulley."

Sulley walked away and noticed that Randall was already waiting for him at the front entrance. He went up to him and said, "You're out early."

Randall nodded. "Yeah, if the kid isn't in the house, then there's no point in staying, so they released me a bit early."

"Sweet, so where to?" Sulley asked.

"I'm craving a sandwich at the deli right now," Randall said. "I haven't eaten since those pancakes this morning, and I didn't get too many of them since SOMEONE was hogging all of 'em."

Sulley chuckled. "Heh, sorry. It's your fault anyway. If you weren't such a good cook, I wouldn't have eaten so many."

Randall looked away. "Heh, thanks. I've been cooking those pancakes for years."

Sulley and Randall chatted all the way to the deli. They entered and they each ordered a sandwich for themselves. Once they got their sandwiches, they sat down and began to eat away.

"So anything crazy going on in the scaring realm?" Randall asked. "I'm starting to really miss it, so you're going to have to be my messenger."

Sulley swallowed a piece of his food and said, "Nothing too new. George Sanderson is really bringing in the screams, though. Got himself into the third rank."

"Ah, good for George," Randall said. "The guy's been having a rough year."

Sulley nodded. "Yeah, the guy's a teddy bear. The kids just want to hug him."

Randall chuckled. "Yeah, I would be lying if I didn't try to hug him in college."

Sulley laughed and gave Randall a high-five. "See, there's that sense of humor of yours. I knew it was hiding somewhere."

"Yeah, well it won't come out anymore if you keep announcing it," Randall said as he took another bite. "So I suggest you chill out about it."

"Fair enough," Sulley said as his laugh calmed down. "Yeah… things have been okay over at the scaring floor. Mike and I got into a little fight this morning."

"Yeah… I have a pretty good idea what that's about," Randall said, putting a hand behind his neck.

"You could've told me that you ended up on the phone with Mike," Sulley said.

Randall shrugged. "Sorry, Sulley, but I didn't think it was that important. It was more awkward than anything. Mike seemed pretty pissed that I was in your apartment."

Sulley nodded. "Yeah, he was but he's calmed down now. He even told me to say hi to you. But none of this is your fault, Randall. I'm the one who invited you."

"I know, I'm just saying."

Sulley chuckled, trying to lighten up the situation. "But something funny did happen. When Mike and I were yelling, I ended up saying that I liked you and everyone in the room heard me. I said that I would give them five bucks to forget what they heard."

"Wait… you like me?" Randall asked, almost ignoring every other word that Sulley said.

Sulley paused for a moment, putting his thoughts togther. "L-like a friend, Randall. Of course, like a friend. Not anything more than that. I mean, that would just be… blech." Sulley knew that he just made the situation more awkward, but he didn't bother stop himself.

"Oh… yeah, just a friend," Randall said sullenly. "Well, this was a nice lunch Sulley, but I think I should probably get back to work." Randall stood up, but Sulley stopped.

"Wo wait, just like that?" Sulley asked. "I know… that was awkward. Let's just forget that conversation happen."

Randall smirked. "No, Sulley… you really don't get it."

"What do you mean I don't get it?" Sulley asked. "It was awkward and I assured you that we're just friends. I know for a fact that you don't like me like that and I… don't like you like that, either. The awkward situation is over."

"No, it's not!" Randall exclaimed.

"Why not?!" Sulley yelled.

"Because believe it or not, Randall Boggs actually wants to be more than just friends with you!"

"W-wha?" Sulley said, not even being able to form a whole word.

Randall then did something unexpected; unexpected even to himself. He leaned forward and gave a small kiss to Sulley. When he released the kiss and noticed that Sulley's blank expression was still there, he frowned.

"You really don't get it." Randall walked out of the deli.


	5. Chapter 5

Investigation Ward

Chapter 5

Randall leaned forward and gave a small kiss to Sulley. When he released the kiss and noticed that Sulley's blank expression was still there, he frowned.

"You really don't get it." Randall walked out of the deli.

Sulley maintained his blank expression for a few more moments until he got his bearings straight. When he did so, he quickly out of his chair, knocking it over, and ran after Randall. "Randall!" Sulley yelled, trying to stop him. "Please, stop."

Randall turned around, his arms crossed. "What do you want now?"

"Are you seriously going to do all of that and not give me a chance to respond?" Sulley asked, a bit angry.

"I saw your face, Sulley. I knew that you wanted nothing to do with me, so I didn't even want to hear it."

"What did you expect?" Sulley asked. "You tell me your feelings and kiss me out of nowhere. Naturally, I was a bit shocked. But, now I can think a bit straight now, and well… now I can tell you a bit of how I feel about you."

"Wha-" Randall started, not sure what Sulley was going to say in response.

"I've been feeling like crap lately," Sulley admitted. "Having Mike trash-talking me, then getting mushy-gushy over Celia... Made me realize that I'm actually pretty lonely."

"Lonely?" Randall asked. "Sulley, you don't know the meaning of being lonely. You have lots of friends, like... like..."

"I'm waiting," Sulley said, sighing.

"Wow..." Randall said. "You were only really friends with Mike, weren't you?"

Sulley nodded. "Yeah... I keep myself focused on my scaring, and I didn't really realize that I wasn't hanging out with anyone until it was too late."

"That's sad and all Sulley, but... do you have a point to any of this?"

Sulley sighed. "When I went out to lunch with you yesterday... it actually felt pretty good. Going out on the town last night was even better. It just kind of showed me that I'd rather be hanging out with someone than being alone."

"I thought that was a pretty simple concept to you," Randall said, slowly loosening up.

"Well, now it is. And... then I brought you back home with me. No one has seen the apartment ever, other than Celia."

"You're basically summarizing last night, Sulley. Are you going to get to the point or what?"

Sulley nodded. "I realized how much I liked you. I... even brought you closer to me in my bed so that you were sleeping right next to me. I don't know if you noticed."

Randall blushed. "I didn't realize that it was you. I figured that I did that myself."

Sulley got closer to Randall and said, "Well... You didn't. And it was the best night's sleep I've had in months." Sulley got a bit closer. "So... the point that I've been trying to get at... is this."

Sulley leaned forward, placed his hand on Randall's chin, and kissed him. This time, neither of them held back. They both wanted this to happen, and they were both satisfied with the result.

Eventually, Randall separated the kiss and asked, "Just answer me this. Why didn't you tell me this before?"

"I didn't think you liked me before," Sulley said. "Believe it or not, on the outside I look scary. But... on the inside, I'm terrified."

"I find that hard to believe," Randall said with a smug look.

"Well, it's not like that anymore." Sulley kissed Randall again, not caring that they were in public and people were watching.

Though Randall immediately noticed. "Sulley, aren't you afraid of people watching?"

"Eh... they can go suck it," Sulley said. "I like you Randy, and some stupid people staring won't stop that."

Randall smiled. "I like it when you call me Randy."

"Good, because that's what I'm going to call you from now on." Sulley chuckled before saying, "Now come on. There's something we gotta do."

Randall walked forward with Sulley. "And what would that be?"

Sulley frowned. "Something I wanted to do since I found out you were working for the Investigation Ward."

Sulley walked into Mr. Waternoose's office with Randall trailing behind him.

"Sullivan!" Mr. Waternoose exclaimed. "What brings you by my office?"

"There's something that I wanted to talk to you about," Sulley responded. "And it involves Randall."

"Alright," Waternoose said. "But make it quick. You have to be back out onto the scare floor soon. Your lunch break is about to end."

"Well, Randall tells me that you basically ripped him away from the scare floor, reduced his pay, and forced him to be an investigator in the Investigation Ward."

"Well... I'm not going to deny it," Waternoose said simply. "But I don't see why this is any of your business."

"I am making it my business," Sulley said. "Don't you think it's a little unfair for Randall to be put through all of that when he is a fantastic scarer?"

Waternoose stood up and got himself a cup of water. "Boggs, can you please exit the room? Close the door on your way out."

"Yes, sir," Randall said. He looked up at Sulley and whispered, "Don't do anything stupid. I don't want you getting fired at my expense." Randall closed the door as he exited.

"Listen, Sulley. You are right about one thing. Randall is an excellent scarer that gets nearly as much as scare energy as you do. It was a hard decision getting rid of him, but we were getting several dead doors. We needed Randall's skills in the Investigation Ward so we can pump doors out to the scare floor quicker."

"Skills?" Sulley asked. "What skills? All you do is sit in one spot and try not to fall asleep. What kind of skills are you looking for?"

"It's less about the skills as it is about getting the work done, Sullivan," Waternoose explained. "The fact of the matter is that no-one wants to be an investigator. Pay is low and the work is tedious. So... we have to find someone who is already working for the factory, and has the ability to be in incognito."

"So you took a top scarer?"

"I had no choice," Waternoose said. "He was one of the few who met the criteria of being an investigator." He took a sip of his water. "Besides, Randall wasn't the top scarer; you are. I would never give up you to be an investigator. You're too valuable."

"I was hoping you would say that," Sulley said. He crossed his arms and said sternly, "If you don't give Randy's job back on the scare floor, then I quit Monsters Inc. I'm sure any other scaring company would be happy to have me."

Waternoose's mouth dropped open, not sure what to say. "L-let's be reasonable, Sulley," he said, hesitating a bit. He thought for a moment before saying, "You're bluffing. You know your job here is way more valuable than Randall's."

Sulley stuck his face right in front of Waternoose's, something he had never done before. "Why don't you try me, sir?" Sulley said grimly. "What's your choice?"

Waternoose took a step back, frowning. "Well, Sullivan. Looks like you found my weak spot, and... you've beaten me at my own game." He went over to the door and opened it, finding Randall directly on the other side of it. "Come in here, Boggs. I would like to talk to you."

"Yes, sir," Randall said, unsure of how to take Waternoose's message. He entered the room and closed the door behind him. "What's going on?"

Waternoose went behind his desk. "I believe I have made up my mind about you. With... a little bit of help. I think you belong on the scare floor more than the Investigation Ward."

"Are you serious?" Randall said, shocked.

"Yes, but on one condition."

"Yes, sir. What is it?"

Waternoose cleared his throat. "You need to find someone to replace you in the Investigation Ward. Until then, all hours before lunch will be spent in the Investigation Ward. All hours after will be spent on the scare floor. You will be paid a scarer's salary for all hours."

"You got yourself a deal, Mr. Waternoose," Randall said, smiling. He went to shake his hand, but then retracted it. "Buuut... I have a condition of my own."

Mr. Waternoose nodded. "Yes, yes. What is it?"

"Fungus gets his job back as my partner."

"I figured that's what you wanted. He'll be your partner in the IW as well. I'll give him a call to return to the factory for tomorrow's work."

"Thank you so much, sir," Randall said, getting excited. "This really means a lot to me."

"Well, you can thank your friend Sullivan for that. He's the one who brought all of this up." Waternoose cleared his throat again. "Now get out of my office. You both are done for the day. Tell your partners to go home."

Sulley and Randall nodded before exiting the office.

Waternoose went out of his office shortly after and went down to the Scare Floor. He ran into his right-hand man, the monster that runs the scare floor and makes sure everything is in check and safe.

"Oh, sir. Looks like we're going to make quota today. George Sanderson is really pulling the big numbers."

"Yeah, that's great and all," Waternoose said, brushing off the topic. He explained what had just happened in his office, emphasizing every detail. "What I don't get is why Sulley suddenly started defending Randall like that. As far as I'm concerned, they're big competitors and not good friends."

The scare floor manager took in all of the words and looked out into the scare floor. Sulley told Mike to go home. Shortly afterwards, he turned towards Randall who was waiting for him to finish. Then, without warning, Sulley brought Randall into a kiss in front of everyone on the scare floor. "Well... I think that's your answer," he said, pointing to the scene.

Mr. Waternoose stared at the two and blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. "Well I'll be... that's a bit of a plot twist."

"Should I make them stop?" he asked. "They're distracting the other scarers."

Waternoose shook his head. "No, let them go. They're on their way out." He coughed a couple if times before saying, "Besides, there's nothing like love in the workplace."


	6. Epilogue

Investigation Ward

Epilogue

Everything went in small stages after Warernoose gave Randall his job back. Though, as Randall had thought of it, the pieces were beginning to come together. He got his job back and he also got someone who finally cared for him.

As for the Investigation Ward, it didn't take long for Randall to find and fool a poor sap into taking the job in his place. Another lizard by the name of Chi who had similar camouflage powers.

And just like that, Randal and his partner Jeff Fungus were back on the scare floor full-time again. Thought, this time things were going to be a bit different.

Randall still wanted to be the best on the scare charts, but for a different reason. He didn't want the fame and stardom that he had strived for in the past couple of years. No, he tried his best for Sulley. The monster who turned his life around and gave him the opportunity to scare once more.

As for Sulley and Randall's relationship, it didn't take long for people to take notice. They weren't very discreet about it. Though, neither one of them wanted to be discreet anyways. They were in love, and they wouldn't allow any other monsters to tell them otherwise.

Not even Mike.

"So…" Mike started, staring at Randall. "I guess we'll be seeing each other around more often, huh?"

Randall nodded. He had personally pulled him aside to make sure that everything was okay with him. Mike was Sulley's roommate after all, and Randall figured that he would have to be friendly with him as well. "Yeah, that's right."

Mike crossed his arms and bluntly said, "This doesn't mean that I'm just going to forgive you for being such a jerk for the past couple of years. You know that, right?"

Randall nodded again. "I didn't expect you to. Just know that things are going to be a bit different between us." Randall cleared his throat and collected his thoughts. "If you can remember back to Randy Boggs, the geeky, glass-wearing kid from freshman year… I'm going to make sure he comes back."

Mike thought for a few moments before slowly cracking a smile, remembering all of the good times that he spent with Randall before he left to join ROR. "Well… I'm looking forward to seeing randy again. He was a good guy before he turned into a total tool."

Randall chuckled. "Yeeeeah, I deserve that."

Mike cleared his throat. "Yeah, you do. So… thanks for pulling me aside. I've been meaning to talk to you, but I've been a bit busy with scaring and other stuff."

"You mean spending time with Celia/" Randall asked, trying something out.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Mike responded.

"Other than it being blatantly obvious, I just know," Randall said simply. He placed his hand on Mike's shoulder, something he didn't do often. "Here's a bit of advice. You might want to spend a bit more time with your roommate and your scaring partner." Randall then started walk away, instigating the end of the conversation.

"What, what do you mean?" Mike asked.

"Keep hanging out with schmoopsy-poo and brushing your friends to the side, and you'll find out the hard way." Randall kept on walking, leaving Mike with his thoughts.

Six months passed and some changes did happen.

Mike developed a better relationship with Sulley and Randall. He and Celia go on a double date with them every couple of weeks. This strengthened both of their relationships.

Randall led a rally to create a better lifestyle for the workers in the Investigation Ward. He claimed that the living standards were not up to the company's standards and had to be revised to be more livable if the workers were going to be there for long periods of time. He won. Despite Waternoose's protests, the Investigation Ward was shut down for a month in order to be completely revised. Now, the place felt less like a prison. More lights were installed and the rooms were much larger and more furnished than they were before. The investigators were also given more breaks.

The most defining change was Randall and Sulley coming around to the idea of adopting a kid. They both came to the conclusion that they both wanted one soon after the relationship started. After several months of tedious paperwork, they ended up with a monster that resembled Randall. A purple lizard with little dots of red around the body.

"He's beautiful, Randy," Sulley said he cradled his child in his arms. "I can't believe we're going to be parents."

"Yeah," Randall said he poked the young baby's nose with his finger. "I'm going to make that Mikey has a good life." Randall smiled. "It's nice that you named him after Mike. I would've preferred Randall, what can I do?"

Sulley chuckled and said, "He named his kid James. I kind of had to." Sulley shook the baby in his arms for a little bit before saying, "Randall, can I say something to you? I can't think of a better time to do it than now."

Randall nodded. "Yeah, what is it?" he asked, a bit worried.

"Here, hold the baby really quick," he said quickly, handing Mikey to Randall. Then out of nowhere, Sulley got onto one knee and said…

"Will you marry me?"

Randall''s facial expression could be described as dumbfounded, but what he was feeling on the inside was entirely different. He wanted to blurt out _yes_ and hug him and their baby. But what he ended up doing was…

Blurting out "yes!" and hugging him and their baby.

They got married a few months later. They realized that everything was happening so quickly in their lives, but they couldn't have been happier with the result. They were married, great jobs where they worked alongside each other, and a kid to cherish for the rest of their lives. And that's just the way that they wanted it.

Fin~


End file.
